


A Useful Pokemon

by DarkestDungeon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions
Genre: Gen, Multi, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokephilia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-05 02:03:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18356348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkestDungeon/pseuds/DarkestDungeon
Summary: (Will be explicit in later chapters!)Wanting to not seem weak for her choice in Pokemon, Lily was taught as a child to refuse weak starters and weak wild Pokemon. Right as she's finally allowed to choose her very first starter, everything goes out the window...





	1. Unwelcome

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that while Pokemon from generation 2 appear here, evolutions from later generations will be included!
> 
> Follow me on Inkbunny! https://inkbunny.net/DarkestDungeon

To Lily, despite never having one Pokemon were more of tools in her eyes, but not by choice. Having not been allowed to become a Pokemon trainer by her parenrs when she was younger, Lily grew up now seeing how her previous choices of Pokemon that she wanted were terrible in both typing and stats thanks to the instruction of her parents. She grew a feeling of cringe looking back at all the Pokemon she wanted, and swore to herself that she would never again consider to have such weak Pokemon in order to please her parents. Now having the proper knowledge about what Pokemon would be useful to her, her parents now knew she was ready to finally start her journey as a true Pokemon trainer at the age of 20, right on her birthday. Leaving her home, she walked to the front of Professor Elm’s lab, where two children also waiting at the entrance. She knew them as Andy and Holly, two kids in the town who also were getting their first Pokemon alongside her. Even though she was double the age of the other youngsters who were going with her to Professor Elm’s lab to collect a Pokemon from him, nevertheless she already knew what she was going for: A Totodile! Good typing, wide range of learned moves for type coverage, and a beast in design, Totodile was all around her perfect want!

 

“Welcome you three!” Professor Elm said happily to the trio Lily led into the lab. “Today’s the day you finally get to become a Pokemon trainer and live out the journey of your dreams! When it comes to choosing your Pokemon, we'll go in Alphabetical order.”

 

The three watched Professor Elm take out his clipboard, flipping through the pages and reading the first name. “Andy!” And the only boy in the trio walked forward nervously. Gulping, he for a moment was going for Cyndaquil’s pokeball, but last second switched to Totodile’s pokeball. “Um, I'll go with this one sir!” He called out, taking the Totodile out of its pokeball. Looking up at his new master, the Totodile gave a toothy grin. With the new nickname “Toby”, Andy walked out with his new partner. Lily watched Andy take her preferred Pokemon, letting out a loud sigh. _Great, well I can always fall back on Cyndaquil._ She thought to herself. Professor Elm flipped the page, going to the next child. “Holly!” He called out, and the little girl walked over. She saw Lily eyeing Cyndaquil but really care. Holly wanted Cyndaquil, and she was getting it. Grabbing Cyndaquil’s pokeball, she let her new partner out, who looked at her with a look of determination. “I'm naming you Blitz!” She declared, the Cyndaquil nodding in acceptance.

 

As Holly left, Professor Elm was about to happily mention Lily’s name, only to reel back when he saw how visibly angry she was. “Why did you have to put everything in alphabetical order?! I get delayed on my chance to be a trainer, and when I finally do so I'm stuck with Chikorita! That is the worst starter of the three!” She yelled back to him, the Professor chuckling nervously. “W-Well, it's not like Chikorita is a bad Pokemon, it's why it's available alongside all the others-” Lily raised her hand to signal Professor Elm to shut up, angrily grabbing the pokeball containing Chikorita. “Forget it, I'm not delaying my journey another year, I'll just put up with this thing.” And off she went, leaving the labs stomping. Professor Elm watched Lily storm off with the pokeball still in her hand, giving off a small sigh. “Oh dear, I swore I remember her talking about how Chikorita was her favorite Pokemon back when she was a little girl.” He mumbled to himself, recollecting his state of mind and continuing to do his usual research now that the first item on the docket has been covered. _I just hope Lily doesn’t do wrong by that Chikorita. It’s her birthday gift after all, she just turned 20 today!_

 

Outside, Lily glared at the two children who were already heading off back home to show their families their new Pokemon. Deciding to wait until she got home to take out her Chikorita, she silently thanked the lord that her mother had yet to come home and badger her about what strong Pokemon she got from the Professor. _They aren’t going to be happy when they hear I got a Chikorita…._ With a hefty sigh as Lily went to her bedroom upstairs, she collapsed on the bed, staring at the pokeball. Would she even be a good trainer with a Pokemon she didn’t even like? Putting that thought aside, she finally decided that seeing her new partner wouldn’t hurt _much_ . Pressing the pokeball to enlarge its size, she tossed the ball into the air, and the pokeball split open. With a large shining light that had to have Lily cover her eyes with her arms, she looked down on the floor to see a Chikorita, a _shiny_ Chikorita staring at her with a smiling face.

 

 **“Hello, and Happy Birthday Master!”** The Chikorita gleefully told her.

 

Lily stared at this young Chikorita, a twinge of guilt now stabbing at her. Poor guy looked so happy to see her, the disappointment this little guy is going to feel is even greater once her mother comes home. But….wait a minute. How did it know it was her birthday today? “You...know it’s my birthday?” The Chikorita nodded, looking at the calendar on the wall. “Yup! Professor Elm got me from a trainer who owns my mama. He remembered how much you loved Chikorita and wanted to get you one as a partner, so here I am!” When the little Chikorita finished his explanation he expectantly waited for Lily’s own joyous cheers, but his smile gradually faded to a confused expression upon seeing her own expression which was deep in thought. “Master, are you feeling well?” Lily looked down to the Chikorita, about to open her mouth to speak when she heard the front door to the house open, hearing her mother talking downstairs. “I-, this day won’t be a happy one now, I really hoped she didn’t come home today.”

 

The Chikorita looked confused, but hearing the footsteps upstairs would spell the last time this Chikorita was happy about being in this household. Entering the room, a middle aged woman with gray streaks in her hair and a stern look in her face stared at the Chikorita. The woman’s cold stare only grew more frigid, her gaze turning to Lily who already was flinching. “And _what_ is the meaning of this? We tell you that you can finally become a trainer in the promise for getting a strong Pokemon as your starter, and you bring a Chikorita? Even a _Bulbasaur_ lasts better competitively!” With every passing word, every passing outburst, Lily’s mother drew closer to her. The Chikorita saw that all Lily could do was reel back onto her bed, head hung low. What was this woman doing? Why is she yelling at her daughter? Can’t she see Lily is scared? But as a raised hand was in his vision, and hearing a loud smack as now half of Lily’s face showed a bright red mark... _that_ was a final straw for the Chikorita. With a quick preparation, the Chikorita let out its growl move, hoping merely just to get the mother’s attention. Having gotten it thanks to the cue of the mother turning now to face the Chikorita, he bolted forward and ran under the mother’s feet. Once he tripped her up all that could be heard was a _thud_ on the floor. Quickly extending a vine to grab Lily’s hand the Chikorita wasted no time now in running out the house with his master in tow, desperate to get her away from that bad woman.

 

Lily was near out of breath already. She wasn’t athletic one bit, and the Chikorita dragging her out of the house and onto Route 29 without rest wasn’t helping her. “W-Wait please, just _hold on!!_ ” Finally, the Chikorita stopped. Taking this chance to sit down and rest on a nearby tree, she looked back to the Chikorita who now like a guard dog was keeping an eye out. Seeing the coast was clear, the Chikorita finally relaxed too. “There, I don’t think that bad lady is gonna come get us anytime soon.” He had said with certainty. Going to check on Lily however gave him something new to worry about. She was curled up into a fetal position by a tree trunk, the girl sobbing into her baggy sweater. “Wait no, don’t cry master! I did it I got you away from that lady!” But Lily continued to cry regardless. The Chikorita sat down in silence, watching his master cry for a few solid minutes. Large leaf perked in interest, he noticed that Lily was slowly stirring from the fetal position, wiping her face with the sweater’s sleeves. “I, I can’t show myself at that house anymore. My mom denied me the wish to be a Pokemon trainer because she said she knew I would choose a weak Pokemon. She only let me now because I had promised her that I would not choose Chikorita…”

 

Getting up from the ground and wiping the dirt off her basketball shorts, she wiped the last of her tears and looked to the Chikorita. “But, I guess I’m still stuck with you anyways. A birthday gift is a birthday gift. And well, thanks for telling me happy birthday. First one to say so today.” Checking her sweater’s pockets to make sure she had at least her ID, some money, and her phone, Lily walked further into Route 29. But, before she could even take a step into the tall grass, she felt a vine wrap around her foot. Looking back she saw the Chikorita, running to catch up. “H-Hold up! I don’t know if it’s selfish to ask, but can I have a name?” He asked, looking to Lily expectantly with his big eyes. _That’s right! The other two named their starters, it’d be mean of me to not name this little guy._ “Hm……...let’s say…” She pondered, a few names appearing in her mind. “......Johnathan. So from now on I’ll call you Johnathan, alright?” The newly named Johnathan couldn’t help but smile, ecstatic to finally be given his very own name! “That’s fine by me master! It sounds like a great name!” He praised. Lily herself didn’t exactly understand why a name was so important to Johnathan, but he looked happy about it. Trying to keep New Bark out of her mind to try and forget about her mother, who now no doubt is going to try looking for her, she and Johnathan finally set out together into the route, ready to tackle things head on.


	2. A New Friend

A day has passed since Lily left New Bark Town with Johnathan by her side. In the Pokemon Center in Cherrygrove City is where the two currently slept, curled up together on a couch. Blankets and pillows were provided by Nurse Joy and the Chansey that stayed to be night watchers. A small amount of other trainers were also fast asleep on the other pieces of furniture, also with their Pokemon sleeping beside them. Daybreak was only just beginning to show, a janitor opening the main entrance doors to the Pokemon Center to indicate that the Center was opening to the general public.

 

As the lights turned on, everyone was equally awoken with groans and soft complaints. Still, everyone began getting off of the furnitures and folding their blankets and stacking them with pillows to give back to the Chansey to wash. Many trainers left the moment they turned in the blankets and pillows in order to continue their travels. Lily and Johnathan continued to stick around the Pokemon Center however. Map in hand generously given by an old man, Lily was pointing with a pencil a route of travel.

 

“So our next port of call would be route 30, which is north of Cherrygrove.” Lily said aloud. Moving the pencil up the route, she saw route 30 lead into route 31. Following route 31, she saw that Violet city was up next. Lily remembered hearing that Violet City had a gym, so she wanted to give it a chance.

 

Johnathan watched Lily on the map attempting his best to try and understand the routes and city names. Still, it was all gibberish to him. No one really taught him how to read a map. “Shouldn’t we train me up first? Routes usually have trainers looking to fight, right Master?” He asked her. “I don’t want to let you down by being inexperienced in fighting.”

 

_He has a point. If he doesn’t get to train we’ll be stuck in Cherrygrove forever._ Standing, she looked into her bag to see the extra pokeballs that a trainer was nice enough to offer to her. Grabbing one alongside Johnathan’s pokeball, she nodded. “Alright. Johnathan, let’s head on out, we’re catching you a sparring partner.”

 

The two headed out of the Pokemon Center, heading back into Route 29. They stayed in the nearest patches of grass though. As Johnathan had no real battle experience and they fled all previous battles, he was still only level 5. Sifting through the grass, the two waited expectantly for any Pokemon to show themselves.

 

After a few minutes of venturing into the grass, Johnathan’s head whipped back to some shrubbery nearby. “There’s something nearby Master.” He stated aloud, loud enough as well that the nearby entity could hear it. Judging by the excited rustling of the grass, it was a Sentret that couldn’t sit still.

 

“Oh boy oh boy, finally another trainer!” The Sentret all too happily leapt out of the bushes it laid hidden in. Bouncing from sheer joy on its large tail, the Sentret stared down Johnathan. With a nod from his opponent, the battle began.

“Johnathan, use growl!” Lily commanded.

 

With no hesitation, Johnathan reared his head out and let out the loudest growl he could muster. The Sentret made a frightened squeak, curling himself up into a tight ball.

 

_Defense curl! A level 4!_ “Johnathan, continue using tackle until I order you to stop, we need to see how much damage this Sentret can do to you.” She instructed. This is already bad! Even with growl, a Chikorita’s defenses aren’t the best. With only a difference of one level between them too, any critical hit from the Sentret could spell disaster.

 

Johnathan charged forward head on, using the full force of his body to tackle the Sentret out of his curled up stance. It did some good damage, the Sentret falling back and having to regain its composure.

 

The Sentret stood back up tall, charging forward with its own tackle. The growl had done its work. The tackle didn’t send Johnathan as far as previously expected, which only surprised the Sentret. “But I should have done more damage!”

 

“It’s called using growl to survive more hits.” Johnathan said proudly to the Sentret. Charging forward once more, Johnathan landed head on a tackle. In turn, dodging an immediate tackle that the Sentret tried to attempt as it was too injured to move properly.

 

_Perfect, it’s around half health!_

 

“Johnathan, retreat for now!” Lily yelled out with sheer excitement in her voice. This was it, her first real Pokemon capture! Throwing the spare pokeball into the air once for good luck, Lily caught it once more before chucking it over to the Sentret.

 

The pokeball hit the Sentret dead on the head, making him wince before being transported into the pokeball. The pokeball shook its signature three times, making the final click before resting peacefully on the ground.

 

Lily rushed over to the pokeball and grabbed it. Looking down for a split moment she couldn’t help but smile. She did it, she finally caught a Pokemon! Turning back to see Johnathan, she was not so surprised to see him doing his own happy dance, spinning in circles and jumping for joy.

 

For just a moment, the feeling of animosity towards Johnathan being a Chikorita washed away. Inferior Pokemon or not, he just held his own in a battle with another Pokemon. That was respectable in its own right. “Johnathan, come on let’s head on back to the Pokemon Center. We need to heal and nickname this Sentret once he’s better.”

 

Nodding with a small hum, Johnathan followed closely behind Lily. Looking up to her in silence, he gave himself a determined huff. _I promise I’ll continue to do well! We’ll show your mom Chikorita are just as dangerous as any other Pokemon!_


End file.
